Don't Let Her Hurt Me
by Lily-On-Water
Summary: An older brother struggles to take care of his abused sister, while at the same time grappling with his own fear of being abused himself. One thing is clear, they have to get out. Unless he wants to wake up one morning and find that he no longer has a sister, they have to get out... The question is, how?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, but maybe if I keep pretending I do one day it will be true. Wouldn't that be exciting? **

The bear with the ripped off ear is clutched to her chest as she pads down the hallway, making it down the first corridor with ease, but pausing outside of Momma's room, having taken the trek so often as to be aware of the loose floorboards here. With a bump of her big toe she tests the wood around her with a gentleness that she would not have thought possible in her current desperation; silently tears roll down her cheeks, coat her tongue with a taste that is as foreign as salt water in the ocean. Her nose is a mess of snot but she puts off wiping it until she can get around the curve, a whimper escapes her throat, she puts a hand up to muffle it but it's too late. In the back bedroom a light flickers on; she runs the rest of the way, her teeth clenched in an effort to dull the pain. The door is locked.

From down the hall drifts the sound of Momma's voice, an ice cold terror consumes her; her leg drips blood, drop after drop absorbing into the new white rug that Momma loves so much. For a reason or another, she can't seem to find it in her to care; the moment breaks and she finds herself banging her fists against the door, raising blood as they claw against the splintering wood.

"FANG!" Her voice screeches, more shrill than she can ever remember hearing it. Through haze she is able to see Momma running towards her, see her lips moving but not make out a word of what-all she is saying; her fist slams harder against the door, there is a splinter in her palm but she ignores it. For the life of herself she begins to scream, his name becoming hoarser with each rasp of breath, words of a garbled variety are all that is left to her, if indeed these screams can even be called words. She isn't able to see through the cloud of tears, her shoulders pitch forward violently before falling back and her chest aches. Underneath tightly clutched fingers the doorknob starts to turn, a hand grabs at her wrist, with a quick tug she is thrown in.

He pitches his body against the door as he locks it, his face strained as he pushes the deadbolt in the makeshift holder. He doesn't turn back to her until he has tested the knob with his own hands, yank after yank until he is satisfied that it will hold, when it does he crawls to the corner she has taken for her own, his chest heaving slightly as he does so. Stiffly she inches closer to him, her body shaking like a leaf traipsing in the wind; the pain between her legs is almost unbearable now, and with each movement her cries grow a little sharper, her breathing a little more choked.

When she is close enough he pulls her to him, his arms wrap around her and his breath tousles a lock of disarranged hair, they stay like that until they have their breath back. Neither of them realizing a similar track of tears runs down the other's cheek; the boy is the first to snap out of it.

**A/N: So what do you think, would you be interested in reading more of this? **


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell was that, Angel?" His blood pulses behind his ear, his hands shake as he grabs to her shoulders, wrenching her back and forth as he tries to make sense of what has just happened. "How could you be so stupid, do you even realize what she could have done? Do you?" He doesn't look down to watch his sister nod up at him, because frankly he knows that she knew she was in danger. They have lived with Momma long enough so that the both of them can be fully aware of it, every fucking corner of this windowless freaking house makes them more aware of it.

Beneath his fingertips the girl is shaking, terrified, with a grunt of disgust he releases her, forcing his voice to soften before reaching, this time, for her hand. The other hand closes around her chin; she's staring directly into his face now, her cheeks streaked and her eyes bright; his heart wrenches within the confines of his chest. "She could have killed you, Angel. I know that I've said it before, but tonight-" He breaks off, finding the words difficult to say; he wets his lips before continuing. "Tonight was the worst I can ever remember seeing her."

She nods miserably and he feels his heart tighten again, he is his mother's son, he's a monster. _I don't know why I bother trying to deny it, why either of us does. _Newly freed his fist curls up; he wants it to hit something, the wall, the floor, her . . . anything. Instead he pulls his sister towards him, pulling her head to a rest against his shoulder for a moment before tugging her back again; before taking her chin in his palm again. "I know I'm hard on you, but you're all I've got, Angel. If anything happened to you," He swallows, "I don't know what I would do, okay?"

She nods, hesitates before reaching down to lift up a section of her pajama shirt, a section at the bottom, a section saturated with dark crimson, blood. The feeling on an out-of-body experience takes in his mind, he can feel his head shaking but truly he is not aware of it, nor is he aware of the one word, on this word his tongue hangs, fascinated; the one word he will not stop muttering, sweat pouring down his face.

"No, no, no, no, no, no . . ."

**A/N: I hope this is living up to your expectations, thank you tremendously for all of the wonderful reviews that you left me for chapter 1, I hope you will do the same for this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to XxLawlietSuccessorxX, EliseInWonderland247, Flygrrl, and Mrs. Fangslastname, also the reviewer who did not sign on . . . you guys are wonderful! Thanks so much and please review this one and continue telling me whether this is a keep or ditch project.**


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